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World Parkinson's Day

11 April 2016

Today on World Parkinson's Day (April 11) Steve Sant, CEO Parkinson's Australia, and Janice Rowan, who was diagnosed with Parkinson's seven years
ago, appeared on Channel 9's Today Extra.

Their appearance on the popular show raised awareness about World Parkinson's Day, highlighted some of the early warning signs and symptoms and
launch of the free resource Parkinson's Xplained.

Parkinson's Xplained was created in collaboration with Parkinson's Australia and describes the journey of Janice's diagnosis and understanding
the condition. It contains links to additional information and an explanation of specific symptoms, environmental factors, avenues for help
including the support services offered by the Parkinson's organisations in each State.

Ann Sudmalis MP, convenor of the Parliamentary Friends of Parkinson's Group, wrote, "I was honoured to launch the Action Framework for Parkinson's
Australian Parliament House this morning. Guest speaker, Monica Hall, who has Parkinson’s Disease delivered an inspirational speech and her
journey shows that making Parkinson’s a Priority is critical to reducing the impact of this disease which affects so many Australians and their
families."

Professor George Mellick gave a very convincing argument as to why the government should invest in Australian Parkinson's research and the presence
of guests from the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and Shake It Up Australia Foundation showed how unified the Parkinson's community is.

Victor McConvey, Parkinson's Clinical Nurse Consultant Parkinson's Victoria used the wealth of his experience in both the UK and Australia
to show that Parkinson's nurses provide practical and much-needed support to people with Parkinson's and their families.

Steve Sant, CEO, Parkinson's Australia, said that the ministerial briefing with Sussan Ley, Minister for Health, was very positive and she was
opening to continuing discussions about the Make Parkinson's a Priority Framework.

Great results from the morning as we welcome new members to the Parliamentary Friends of Parliament group to support Parkinson's Australia and
our objectives:

...until the launch of the Make Parkinson's a Priority campaign at Parliament House in Canberra.

Excitement is building as we are preparing for the launch of the Make Parkinson's a Priority Action Framework on Tuesday 15 March with over 50
politicians and representatives committed to attending. Parkinson's Australia has also secured meetings that day with the Minister for Health,
Sussan Ley, and Opposition Minister for Health, Catherine King. Monica Hall, person with Young Onset Parkinson's, will be joining us at those
meetings.

You can help the Make Parkinson's a Priority campaign by encouraging others affected by Parkinson's to subscribe through our website, by liking the Parkinson's Australia Facebook page and sharing this update.

Let's build our community to Make Parkinson's a Priority!

Thanks for your support.

Happy new year

Wednesday 6 January 2016

Yet another new year has passed and hopefully all in our community have had the chance to have a break as 2016 is going to be a big year
for Parkinson's Australia. Two highlights of the year will be the launch of the Parkinson's Australia Action Framework and the
World Parkinson's Congress. We will be launching the Parkinson's Australia Action Framework in mid March, the Framework provides
the case for making Parkinson's a priority so that people living with Parkinson's can access the care and support they need and
research into a cure and better treatments for this condition can be accelerated. We are also looking forward to the World Parkinson's
Congress in Portland in September where we will be able to hear about cutting edge science, clinical research and comprehensive care for
Parkinson's.

There will also be a federal election, the timing is not certain but likely to be anytime from early August and it will be interesting
to see what health policies the major parties bring out before the election.

Parkinson's Australia will be continuing to highlight the needs of our community and to promote better awareness and understanding
of Parkinson's to the whole community. If you have not already seen it this video by Associate Professor Simon Lewis of
the Brain and Mind Institute provides good information on the probable causes of this prevalent disease, the role of sleep disorders and
Parkinson’s potential for being a infective prion disease.

New Report demonstrates the value of Movement Disorder Nurses

Monday 23 November 2015

The CEO of Parkinson's Australia attended the launch of the Movement Disorder Nurse Rural Demonstration Project Report in Shepparton Victoria.
This project, which was jointing sponsored by Goulburn Valley Health, Parkinson's Victoria and the local Shepparton Peer Support Group,
shows very positive outcomes for the local community with a significant improvement in the quality of life of people living with Parkinson's
and increased capacity to manage their symptoms. The report also demonstrated the value of the nurse role through significant decreases
in hospital attendances where Parkinson's is the primary diagnosis. The report is so positive Goulburn Valley Health are fully funding
the position. A great win for Parkinson's Victoria and the Goulburn Valley community.

Pictured: Emma Collin CEO Parkinson's Victoria speaking at the launch of the Report

Senator Carol Brown raises the issue of Parkinson's in the Senate;

Thursday 15 October 2015

Senator Carol Brown, Senator for Tasmania, made a statement on Tuesday 13 October 2015 in the Senate on about the report
commissioned by Parkinson's Australia - Living with Parkinson's disease: an updated economic analysis.
In her statement Senator Brown also recognised the advocacy work of Helen Connor-Kendray President of Parkinson's Tasmania. A video of
her statement is below:

Melissa Park, Federal Member for Fremantle, Western Australia made a statement yesterday in the Federal parliament about the launch of the
latest edition of the 'Living with Parkinson's Disease: An updated economic analysis 2014'. A video of the statement is available below.'
Living with Parkinson's Disease: An updated economic analysis 2014'. A video ofthe statement is available below.

Parkinson's Australia has launched the latest edition of the 'Living with Parkinson's Disease: An updated economic analysis 2014' at
a Parliamentary Breakfast.

The latest report found that there is a very substantial cost to the community of Parkinson's with the total economic
cost of Parkinson's to the community being $9.9b per annum. However, whilst this cost is significant the report also highlights the toll
that living with Parkinson's takes on those that have this condition. Parkinson’s Australia believes that there are many opportunities
open to the Commonwealth and States to both improve the quality of lives of people living with Parkinson’s and to achieve the efficiencies
that will reduce the cost of Parkinson’s to the community.

A video was also screened for the first time at the launch which shows the the real cost of Parkinson's to those that live with this condition
every day can be found here.

For further information contact Steve Sant on 0419 770 010

Report on the economic cost of Parkinson's

Parkinson's Australia has commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to produce a report on the economic cost of Parkinson's to the community.
The report 'Living with Parkinson's Disease: An updated economic analysis 2014'will
be released at Parliament House on 16 September at a breakfast for Parliamentarians. Speakers at the breakfast will include

Dr Simon Lewis, Associate Professor in Cognitive Neuroscience, University of Sydney and Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital;

Bettina Clayton-Greene, former Registered Nurse and person with Parkinson’s;

Paul Davies, President Parkinson's Australia; and,

Steve Sant, CEO Parkinson’s Australia.

For further information contact Steve Sant on 0419 770 010

Parkinson's Australia is recruiting to its Board

Friday 14 August 2015

The Board of Parkinson's Australia is seeking to recruit two new independent Board members. The Board is particularly looking for
people with marketing and public relations, advocacy and senior management and leadership skills. It is hoped that the new
members will join the Board later this years and assist support the Board to advocate effectively on behalf of the Parkinson's Community.

CEO visits all States to meet the Parkinson's Community

Friday 10 July 2015

Over the past 9 weeks Steve Sant, the new Parkinson's Australia CEO, has visited all States and the ACT to meet with Parkinson's State members
and the broader Parkinson's community.

"The visits have been extremely valuable in gaining a better appreciation of the needs of our Parkinson 's community and seeing the great
work that is being done by the Parkinson's State members " said CEO, Steve Sant

"I was particularly impressed with the work being undertaken by Parkinson 's Specialist Nurses in Western Australia, the ACT and Tasmania and
it is very clear to me that all people living with Parkinson's should have access to Parkinson 's Specialist Nurses"

"It was also clear that Parkinson's does not feature heavily in the education provided to clinicians and health workers when they train, the
development of the Parkinson’s Australia’s new Aged Care Training Package, called Caring for People with Parkinson’s, is helping to address
this and is a fantastic training resource. "

"I look forward to continuing to work with our State members and will be looking for opportunities to meet further with our community in coming
months "

ABC's 7.30 show has aired a story on the Punchin Parko's group in NSW. Punchin Parko's is a structured exercise program that helps people living
with Parkinson's better manage their symptoms and improve areas such as balance and mobility. Adrian Unger, the founder of the Punchin
Parko's, notes in the story that "people who do exercise which is forced, complex and repetitive have much greater chance of neural plasticity,
which can help reduce the symptoms of Parkinson 's."

Professor Simon Lewis and Parkinson's Australia CEO Steve Sant appeared in a feature piece on predicting Parkinson's and raising awareness
of the early warning signs of the condition. This aired nationally across Today Tonight and 7 News.

Predicting Parkinson's

CHANNEL 7 NEWS: Professor Simon Lewis and Parkinson's Australia CEO Steve Sant feature in a feature piece on predicting Parkinson's and raising
awareness of the early warning signs of the condition. This piece aired nationally across Today Tonight and 7 News.

Canberra can be a cold place on the 2ndTuesday in May when the federal budget is handed down and sometimes after a difficult
budget it can feel particularly frosty. It was the case this year that the day was not particularly pleasant but the Budget was greeted
with significantly more warmth than the 2014 Budget.

For Parkinson’s Australia the day started with a lunch reception put on by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon Bronwyn
Bishop MP. The lunch provided an opportunity to catch up with a number of other charitable organisations who work closely with members
of the federal parliament as well as a few Government MPs who dropped in for a chat.

Whilst the Treasurer hands down the Budget at 7.30pm many people in Canberra are more concerned with digging deep into the detailed budget
papers to find out what it really means. This year we were promised a “dull” budget by the Treasurer and this promise has largely been
fulfilled with little of interest to the Parkinson’s Community.